July’14 Picnic

The Community came together July 26, for the annual Picnic, and what a great day it was!Ann and Frank Z were our gracious hosts.

Frank is an experienced hobbyist and has been in the hobby since his childhood. He is well respected by all that know him. He has been part of this club from the early days of its founding. It is so nice to meet him and get to know all these knowledgeable folks as they wander back in!

We had a little problem, though: our new custom is for whoever is willing, to bring victuals, so the host is spared the trouble of feeding the multitude. Well Frank got together enough for several multitudes (including an extraordinary desert menu!) AND, of course, many brought much. Not a problem, really! We just pigged out!! And many bachelors (well, my wife Julie brought home some cake too!) didn’t have to worry about what to eat for a while! And, believe me, the cuisine was extraordinary! Thanks again, Frank & Ann! Oh yeah-Did I mention Ann’s unbelievable salad?!! It was a great day! Afterwards Julie said “Such nice people. I really enjoyed everybody, especially…., they were so interesting!” (Julie is definitely NOT a fish-nerd)

But the Fish-Nerds! THEY were having high energy conversations all day!

Then Frank took us through his fish-room, seven at a time. I was in the first group-the put me in an office chair and I was able to see all of it.

Amazing! In addition to being a renowned breeder of fancy Guppies (that make you gulp!), Frank is a very creative fish-keeper! PVC compressed air manifolds are run on the ceiling over every rack of tanks with thumb wheels and lines hanging down to the tanks.

He fabricated his racks using 1.5″x1/4″ mild steel stock in a neat way so the 3 rows of tanks are “terraced”: each tank steps back ~4″ as you ascend the stack, leaving the tanks very accessible while still in a compact arrangement. Large (inch ID? Larger?) vinyl tubing and piping leads to a large pump and 55 gallon drum of aged water for water-changes while an equally robust system for removing water leads to the sanitary sewer.

An experience not to be missed! In addition to many species of livestock, Frank is growing some pretty spectacular plants! Check out the pic of the Anubias coffeefolia clogged breeder!

And, there’s the POND!

I had seen old pictures of Franks pond and way eager to see it. It embraces his deck along a boundary of boulders, with the land sweeping uphill behind it, framing the beautiful and graceful ornamental evergreens it’s far shore and the lilies with huge Koi enjoying the water that cascades into it from the waterfalls.

Did I say I like it?Who wouldn’t!

It was great to meet some of the founders (that until now only existed in my mind from old posts) like Glenn and George W. And-newsflash!! GLENN RE-STARTED HIS GROWOUT TANKS. He took all the leftover plants from the plant swap and will be recycling our plants, for our use and for sale for the club!! EXCELLENT!

Which reminds me! The plant swap was great! Abundance for all in need!And Darin gifted me with huge Crypt – Cryptocoryne cordata for my 240.

And Jerry brought a a Cryptocoryne nurii Pahang Mutated. It was supplied by Gabe V, known as Greedy on TPT, and a member of the Sacramento CA Aquatic Plant Society. He said to say hi to the club from the Sacramento APS and provided it to us to auction off. Patrick won it for $24-what I considered a score! I was tempted to bid it up, but considered it bad form, especially considering the rather large possibility I’d kill it.

Here’s a list of the attendees, with their join dates. There’s no information in the cloud about Frank Z-he’s an analog kind of guy. (Did I mention the 57 Impala Convertible in his garage? His first car!! From 1959. Now sporting a modified 400 small-block with a supercharger and a NOX plate! I hunch it must be five or six hundred HP! What’s he doing with Guppies?!)So I’ll just put him at the head of the list.

And, last, but certainly not least! “Last Minute Lin” (9/09) (who got his nickname by always showing up at the very last minute) Got his timing a little off-was going to come next Sat! Come on Jon-we missed you! Set your clock back 7 days and about 30s and you’ll be right on (Lin) time again!